NewLifeFromHeaven.com Blog

On Friday, April 25th, a large portion of the student body wore black clothes and stopped speaking in observance of the Day of Silence, a day dedicated to safer schools, tolerance and positive change. Mr. Graham and Mr. Mientus, along with supportive students, worked together to bring the community a Chapel service on the importance of love and the need to eliminate hate crimes.
Choir director Mr. Mientus said, “I am a strong believer in teaching people to love.”
This attitude of compassion pervaded the 9:40 Chapel as students shared sorrowful narratives of hate crime victims with the rest of the student body. A slideshow played alongside the speeches and candles were lit in honor and memory of those affected by violence and intolerance.
Mr. Mientus said that “The Academy is supportive and is in key to what is going on; next year, we will start something earlier.”
Indeed, the time crunch was a main reason that the observance went unannounced to much of the community. As Mr. Keller said, “There was a lack of time in hearing about the Day of Silence. The administration did not get a chance to discuss the topic. Next year we will be more organized.”
Some people wished that, in lieu of an announcement at Monday assembly, a notice about the Day of Silence could have been sent through e-mail. Mr. Keller responded, “I am all for the Day of Silence,” but thought that “E-mail is not the best vehicle for informing the school.”
The Dean of Students explained, “There are a lot of requests to broadcast stuff to the student body through e-mail; we like to look into each first.”
The Day of Silence website states, “The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.”
Mr. Keller supported the organization’s mission, saying “Homophobia is a terrible thing; the statistics are daunting.
In order to discuss the issues involved with this day and other pertinent topics, Mr. Keller stated, “I plan to get the debate series going again next year, really up and running.”

NOTE: Gospel for Asia sent me an e-mail that I would like to share with you. It is reproduced below:

Dear Matthew,

Once more, I must come to you with a desperate situation that needs your prayers.

On the island of Sri Lanka, where GFA has dozens of missionaries and congregations, more than 400,000 people have been driven from their homes by intense flooding. News sources report a rising death toll, with hundreds of homes totally destroyed and thousands more flooded.

With unusually severe monsoon rains this year, there is no end in sight, and even more areas are threatened by the rising waters.

Just imagine being flooded out of your home—and finding out that everyone for miles around you is also homeless. No one you know or can reach has any way to help. What do you do?

For the suffering survivors of this horrible disaster in Sri Lanka, GFA Compassion Services teams are rushing to bring aid, comfort and hope. Read the latest update here.

Of course, our own churches, Bible colleges, Bridge of Hope centers and believers’ homes are often not spared in these situations. We know of 50 Christian families that have lost their homes, and we are still waiting for reports of how many others have been affected.

We do know that the believers in Sri Lanka need our help—not only to rebuild their own lives, but to provide the emergency supplies that will bring life and hope to those around them.

That’s why we just forwarded some initial funds to begin helping them. But the need—and the opportunity—is so much greater than the resources available. So let me ask you to prayerfully consider making a gift to help them bring the love of Christ to the people of Sri Lanka.

Please click here to send what you can today to support their sacrificial work. Your gift will make a huge difference in the lives of those who are suffering so terribly, and it will help our missionaries bring them the hope that can only be found in Christ.

Thank you for your love and compassion.

Yours for the suffering of Sri Lanka,
K.P. Yohannan
Founder & President

P.S. As if the floods were not enough of a disaster, Sri Lanka’s ongoing conflict between the Tamil rebels and the government has heated up again, with reports of several thousand people being forced from their homes in the eastern part of the country. Please lift these situations before the Lord in your prayers.

This is a guest post by Tony Bernhoffer. The following is a short biographical sketch he provided me in an e-mail:

“My former high school was St. Francis de Sales at 2323 W. Bancroft Street, Toledo, Ohio. Most of the people in my class of 1977 went on to college. I went into the Army because of family problems. My dad drank and he was a violent man. I did go on the college because of the Economic Depression of 1979. And I dropped out of grad school because of personal problems and government harassment over a former girfriend in high school and my federal civil service application. They did give me a 92.0 for a GS-7 job rating in Chemistry back then. But they declined their offer. And when I returned to Toledo, I was too sick to work-I had a nervous breakdown and did not realize it. Now I have been disabled since 1988. Bible study and reading Christian books has been useful to me. And even a letter counselor at INSIGHT FOR LIVING once wrote me that reading Christian books could improve my mental stability. But being persecuted by antichristian people in Toledo kind of undoes the peace and mental stability that the Bible should provide. I had heard a tape recording at the Chrsitian Servicemen’s Center in Edgweood, MD in which a former member of the Illuminattii had called Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain underground occult capitals. I did not really believe it at the time-but these past 20 years have shown me different. (They had an Army of Air Force major visiting the Center in 1977 and he was an officer at a radar station in Turkey. I would tend to believe that tape was legit.)”

Here is a cathartic poem that Tony asked me to put on my blog:

DEATH by TONY BERNHOFFER

My dad sits at home dying of cancer,
Twelve years ago I was dying of a broken heart,
Thinking about what relief death would bring.
I can only tell him that twelve years ago I wished I was dead.
I tell him to believe that Jesus Christ died for his sins
And he will go to Heaven.
Twelve years ago, my wife left me,
Pretty young women only teased me.
If I were dying of cancer twelve years ago,
I would not have fought it.
Death would have brought me peace
Because, after all, you cannot flog a corpse!
Maybe for the man who has been saved by faith,
Death will bring more freedom than you can believe.

Tony Bernhoffer
National Library of Poetry anthology:
AN ETERNITY OF BEAUTY (1998).
Copyrighted.

Published here with permission.